However, trying to undo or reduce legalization at this point would come with serious political and economic hurdles. Interference of legal marijuana laws would mean the shuttering of hundreds of small businesses and the loss of thousands of jobs. It would also make for a lot of unhappy marijuana stock investors.

"It's certainly come so far," said Sam Kamin, a marijuana law expert at the University of Denver, to Time on Dec. 8, 2016. "It can't be undone without a heavy cost."

That's a 159% increase in support over the past 20 years of the Pew poll, which reported only 22% of respondents in favor of legal pot in 1996.

Why Trump Should Support the Marijuana Industry: Half of U.S. States Now Have Legal Weed

On Nov. 8, 2015, eight states passed measures to legalize marijuana in some form. The grand total of states that now have legal pot (for recreational or medicinal use) is 28, plus the District of Columbia. That's a huge increase from just two states, Colorado and Washington, in 2012.

Voters in states like California voted for legal marijuana because they believe legalization is a "safer alternative to the drug cartels."

In fact, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote a letter on Feb. 23 attempting to persuade the president and his team that a regulated market for adult-use marijuana is preferable to what has existed in the past.

"The government must not strip the legal and publicly supported industry of its business and hand it back to drug cartels and criminals," Newsom wrote to Trump, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions copied in. "Dealers don't card kids. I urge you and your administration to work in partnership with California and the other eight states that have legalized recreational marijuana for adult use in a way that will let us enforce our state laws that protect the public and our children, while targeting the bad actors."

Why Trump Should Support the Marijuana Industry: Marijuana's User Base Now Reaches Far and Wide – and Is Growing

With California now aboard the legalization train, a total of about one-quarter of the population now lives in a place where voters have decided to legalize pot.

That means one out of every five Americans can consume cannabis legally — even without a doctor's prescription.

"The cannabis industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy and continues to astonish those in and out of the space," Giadha Aguirre De Carcer​, founder and CEO of New Frontier Data, told Business Insider in September 2016.

Next, we look at two benefits of the marijuana industry that Trump should be especially interested in. They were the cornerstones of his "Make America Great Again" campaign, after all…

Why Trump Should Support the Marijuana Industry: Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs

New Frontier Data released an annual overview of the cannabis industry earlier this month, and the results were impressive.

The report found that the legal weed industry will create close to 300,000 jobs in the United States by 2020 as more Americans demand access. That's more than the manufacturing industry (which is expected to lose 814,000 jobs by 2024).
"These numbers confirm that cannabis is a major economic driver and job-creation engine for the U.S. economy," said De Carcer to Forbes on Feb. 22.

"While we will see a potential drop in total number of U.S. jobs created in 2017, as reported by Kiplinger, the cannabis industry continues to be a positive contributing factor to growth at a time of potential decline," said De Carcer.

Currently, according to Big Think, there are an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 workers involved in the cannabis industry directly and 90,000 in related businesses today.

Why Trump Should Support the Marijuana Industry: Marijuana Is America's New Cash Crop

And experts are expecting those sales to grow by five times over the next few years.

In fact, the industry is expected to hit an estimated $35 billion in revenue by 2020, according to a recent report from GreenWave advisors, a research firm that serves the emerging marijuana industry in America.

Many experts believe it could eventually reach $150 billion to $200 billion each and every year, CBS news reported on Jan. 8, 2015.

And the revenue won't only benefit the industry…

You see, as more states legalize the drug, investors are lining up…

Brendan Kennedy, CEO of a marijuana-focused private-equity firm in Washington – one of the pioneer states of marijuana legalization – thinks the "smell of money is in the air."

Since the passage of the eight ballot measures in November, there's been a "surge of interest from investors who recognize that the end of cannabis prohibition is inevitable," said Kennedy in an interview with NPR on Nov. 20, 2016.

And New Frontier Data — the company that estimated the dramatic increase in job creation from the marijuana industry — also predicts that marijuana revenue will be states' solution to a lackluster economy.

"During this tough economy states are looking for any way to close their budget shortfalls and it appears that cannabis may hold an answer for them," said New Frontier Data CEO De Carcer in a statement on March 7.

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Hi President Trump, well you won it but I voted Hillary Clinton so I pray to YHVH GOD for President Trump to support MARIJUANA for four reasons.
One is recreational use.
Two is hemp industry.
Three is medical cannabis.
Four is NO drug test because of restaurant which marijuana will be hide inside of the foods that we will not know it so no drug test.
I thank you for marijuana supporter and for your highest Honor to seat the President of U.S.A.

Tobacco was sued by the govt to cover health care costs. There is stop smoking campaigns across the country along with the criminal second hand smoke agenda. There is medical proof of the ill effects that marijuana has on the brain especially the developing brain which is into the 20's. So whether first or second hand smoke, legalization will only assure that young minds, those that need our protection and nurturing are sacrificed like our morales and our democracy. Our society has totally been dumbed down to the point that lobotomy's are unnecessary. They are walking zombies already, with a little weed and beer this nation could be conquered on a Friday during a ball game. A total bunch of idiots worried about their fantasy leagues and the sport section…. How safe are your neighborhoods going to be when wine-ohs and addicts litter the streets now, add another legal layer of addiction to the mess…Where is the sanity????

CANNABIS is a plant 100% profitable from the its' roots' all the way to the steam or gemn, the leaves, and of course its' flora and seeds… Medicine/drugs, insecticides, quimical components, More versatile at less cost and more productivity as a TEXTILE than Cotton per Acre, etc., please investigate… it will sky rocket Agriculture and research for more uses, domestic and industrial…

Pot may be fun and tolerable to some, but it is still a habit-forming addictive means of getting high and escaping reality for a little while. Once you are able to tolerate it's effects, and even look forward to your next joint the temptation to escalate to more potent, brain-numbing drugs. With the advent of states shuttering "insane asylums", what shall we do with those whose reactions to pot cause them to harm themselves or other people? Sure alcohol can harm our minds as much as pot, and we could drive our vehicles into those of innocent people and kill or maim them. That's not right either. But consider the amount of money spent by states to keep people from doing this, i.e. law enforcement, emergency medical personnel, dram shop arrests, etc. Let's leave well enough alone. Once legalized, it will be enormously difficult to prohibit it when we all come to our senses and see all the harm we've done by legalizing pot. Remember our nation's attempt at prohibition.

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